Cool things to do in & around Downtown Dallas
Do your kids like to dance? Do you? If you haven't attended a Disco Kids night at It'll Do, you have to add this to your family "bucket list". At only $5 per child this a great night for all to strut their stuff on a light-up dance floor to the sound of lots of great music.
Catch a FREE movie under the stars at the Dallas Farmers Market. Come early and grab a bite at The Market. Bring lawn chairs or a blanket.
Safari Nights Concert Series at the Dallas Zoo
Whether you're a science buff or just have a curious mind, the world-class Perot Museum offers a treasure trove of goodies that are certain to fascinate visitors of any age. Opened in 2012, this stunning 180,000-square-foot architectural gem, designed by Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate Thom Mayne and his firm, Morphosis-- features five floors of mind-blowing exhibit halls filled with hands-on activities, interactive kiosks and a state-of-the-art multimedia cinema. Highlights include a children's museum with a dinosaur dig, a hall of gems and minerals with a 5-foot geode and an earth hall where you can experience an earthquake. Not to be missed is the Texas Instruments Engineering and Innovation Hall where explorers can build robots and create their own digital music. A good way to start is to take the external glass escalator up to the top and work your way down while enjoying the panoramic views of downtown Dallas.
Native Texas Park Bluebonnet Toursat George Bush Presidential Library and Museum
Led by docents from the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, the free guided walking tours take visitors through the one-mile network of trails on the Bush Center’s grounds. The tour showcases bluebonnets and other native wildflowers along with a variety of native plants and grasses, migrating butterflies and birds. The free docent guided tours are offered Saturdays at 10 and 11 a.m. until June 2. Space is limited and tours are offered on a first come, first served basis. Self-guided tours of the grounds are free every day from sunrise to sunset.
Dallas Heritage Village at Old City Park
This living history village, located in one of the city's oldest parks on the southeastern edge of downtown-- allows visitors to experience what life was like in North Texas during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The village is comprised of thirty-eight restored and fully furnished buildings, some of which include-- a log cabin, a Greek Revival style mansion, a school house, a shotgun house and a farmstead. Kids will especially like the general store where they can weigh products, wrap up merchandise and sit around an old stove playing a game of checkers. Adding to the atmosphere are costumed docents, live farm animals and a host of recurring events, ranging from mock gunfights to historical reenactments.
Nestled inside a massive refurbished warehouse in Dallas' Historic West End District, this privately-owned aquatic wonderland is home to countless varieties of marine life (many of which are endangered) from all over the world. In addition to stingrays, piranhas, electric eels, poison dart frogs and Orinoco crocodiles, the aquarium boasts a 20,000-gallon walk-through exhibit brimming with hundreds of Indo-Pacific fish-- as well as a forty-foot long glassed-in tunnel filled with sharks circling overhead. But there's more than fish that meets the eye, visitors can commune with everything from three-toed sloths, manatees and giant river otters to penguins, snakes, tree kangaroos and even a few jaguars. There's also a lush three-level (seven stories in height) recreated South American rain-forest-- complete with free-flying birds, pink flamingos, monkeys and a 40-foot waterfall. Not-to-be-missed are the talks and feeding sessions held throughout the day. Be sure to check the website schedule before you go.